LawFuel.com – A case against some of the world’s largest oil producers has found that Alaskan villagers are unable to recover damages from them in respect of damage caused by greenhouse emissions, as reported by the Law Journal.
Residents of an Alaskan village threatened by an eroding coastline have lost an appeal in a closely watched case against some of the biggest oil producers in the world.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on September 21 found that the village of Kivalina could not recover money damages from ExxonMobil Corp., BP America Inc., Chevron Corp. and other energy companies for greenhouse gas emissions that the plaintiffs said
threaten the destruction of their northwest Alaskan coastal homes.
The village, with a population of 400, is composed of 97 percent Inupiat Native Alaskans. The plaintiffs alleged that greenhouse gas emissions caused by the companies’ products had eroded sea ice that hugs the village’s coastline and protects it from powerful winter storms. The plaintiffs claimed that the entire village needed to move, at a cost of up to $400 million, to survive.
